We Taste-Tested 8 Brands of Frozen Hash Brown Patties—Our Winner May Surprise You

I’m a card-carrying member of the hash brown fan membership. On street journeys, I cease at breakfast drive-thrus to fulfill my morning cravings for hash browns—and particularly go for the hand-held form. They’re reliably crisp and fantastically golden, and I can get pleasure from one with a squeeze of ketchup with out a plate or fork. At dwelling, when I’ve time, I want to grate recent potatoes and fry up my very own hash browns, however when I’m in a rush, I by no means hesitate to achieve for the frozen form. The solely query is: Which model of patty-style hash browns is price shopping for?

To discover the most effective frozen hash brown patties, our editors taste-tested eight extensively accessible manufacturers. We opted for hash brown patties as a substitute of shredded ones (although we sit up for testing shredded ones sooner or later). We cooked the hash brown patties in keeping with the package deal instructions, then sampled them in random order with out understanding which was which. We then tabulated the outcomes and topped an general winner, together with three different worthy contenders that we might be completely happy to maintain at dwelling.

The Criteria

Great hash brown patties must be golden and crispy on the surface, with a pillowy inside that tastes unmistakably of potatoes. There must be distinct strands of grated potatoes; the spuds should not be a gummy, mushy paste. Salt is important—the hash browns must be seasoned sufficient that you simply’d fortunately eat them on their very own, with none ketchup or different condiments.

Overall Winner

Market Pantry Frozen Crispy Hash Brown Potato Patties

“The inside is so creamy, but the outside stays tremendous crisp,” wrote our senior social media editor, Kelli. There was a nice trace of sweetness, and our editorial director, Daniel, appreciated that it tasted extra pure than synthetic. Both our affiliate visuals director, Amanda, and our affiliate editorial director, Megan, loved its potato-forward notes. Meanwhile, I believed this hash brown had the most effective taste and crispiest texture of all of the contenders.

Runners-Up

Season’s Choice Hash Brown Patties

Everyone thought these hash browns have been the crispiest of the bunch. “Beautifully crispy,” wrote Megan, who additionally loved its sturdy potato taste. “Perfect crunch,” wrote Amanda, although she wished there was a bit extra salt. Like others, Daniel praised the outside’s brittleness however discovered the patty a bit too skinny and wished it had extra potato filling.

Stop & Shop Hash Browns Shredded Potato Patties

“These style like quick meals, greasy hash brown goodness,” wrote Amanda, who known as them her superb model of hash browns. Daniel and I each famous their pleasantly starchy taste; I additionally thought they have been well-seasoned, though a bit oily. Megan discovered these hash browns barely mushy, however loved the flavour nonetheless.

Trader Joe’s Hash Browns

“Very crisp outdoors, very creamy inside,” wrote Daniel, who loved the onion-and-potato taste. Kelli discovered them completely crisp, however a contact oily. Similarly, Megan appreciated their exterior crunchiness however discovered them mushier inside than the remaining. Meanwhile, Amanda thought they have been satisfactory however needed extra seasoning and salt.

The Contenders

• Cavendish Farms Potato Patties
• Market Pantry Frozen Crispy Hash Brown Potato Patties
• McCain Babycakes Mini Frozen Hash Browns
• Mydibel Hash Brown Patties
• Ore-Ida Crispy Hash Brown Patties
• Season’s Choice Hash Brown Patties
• Stop & Shop Hash Browns Shredded Potato Patties
• Trader Joe’s Hash Browns

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Most frozen hash brown patties are made with the identical 4 base elements: potatoes, vegetable oil, salt, and dextrose. Dextrose, a easy sugar derived from corn starch, promotes browning, serving to the patties develop a golden exterior. Many manufacturers additionally embody sodium acid pyrophosphate, a stabilizer that forestalls oxidation.

Vegetable oil is a generic time period for a mix of plant-derived oils, most frequently soybean, however it may well additionally embody canola, cottonseed, sunflower, corn, or palm oil. Our winner, Market Pantry Frozen Crispy Hash Brown Potato Patties, makes use of canola, palm, soybean, and sunflower oils. The inclusion of palm oil, which accommodates extra saturated fats than different vegetable oils, could improve crispiness and provides the patties a richer mouthfeel. Market Pantry’s hash brown patties are additionally made with dehydrated potatoes, which will increase the ratio of solids to water and amplifies the potato taste within the last product.

Like our winner, our runners-up—Stop & Shop, Trader Joe’s, and Season’s Choice—all have quick ingredient lists, principally restricted to potatoes, oil, salt, dextrose, and sodium acid pyrophosphate. In our testing, hash browns with these elements constantly delivered high-scoring, crisp, flavorful hash browns.

Conversely, our least favourite choices usually embody extra thickeners, equivalent to modified starch, gums, and cellulose. These elements would possibly account for the truth that these patties tasted much less potato-forward and had a dense or mushy texture.

Our Testing Methodology

All style assessments are carried out with manufacturers utterly hidden and with out dialogue. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A could style pattern one first, whereas taster B will style pattern six first. This is to forestall palate fatigue from unfairly giving anybody pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets, rating the samples in keeping with varied standards. All information is tabulated, and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter to offer probably the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes doable.